KIRKUS REVIEW

A near-future thriller about overprescription.

It's a London much like the real one
but for one change: the city has been funding the distribution of Concentr8, an
ADHD medication, for all misbehaving students. When budget cuts lead to the
discontinuation of the Concentr8 program, London erupts in riots. Amid the chaos,
Blaze leads his followers Troy, Femi, Karen, and Lee away from the looting—then
promptly kidnaps a municipal worker. Over the next six days, this impulsive act
becomes a full-blown hostage crisis. The point of view shifts in heavily
stylized voices among the kidnappers, the hostage, an investigative journalist,
the mayor, even the police negotiator. Several of the teens begin to be fleshed
out among all the stock characters: Troy's dedication to Blaze; Femi's desire
to escape the situation; Karen's knowledge that she's got a potential future to
destroy. The exception is Lee, with his degradingly portrayed developmental
disability, who acts as mere set dressing. Meanwhile, the journalist seeks
answers about Concentr8, and the teens begin to argue. Unfortunately, the flow
is continually shattered by moralizing, primarily in the chapter epigraphs:
most are lengthy quotations from real works implying ADHD is an imaginary
diagnosis and Ritalin is snake oil, while several other chapters are,
horrifyingly, preceded by genuine (though unattributed) tweets about ADHD
medication.

This thriller is bogged down by
polemic and poor character development. (Dystopian thriller. 13-16)

Be the first to discover new talent!
Each week, our editors select the one author and one book they believe to be most worthy of your attention and highlight them in our Pro Connect email alert.
Sign up here to receive your FREE alerts.